^{Neko no Ongaeshi} (aka The Cat Returns) is a 2002 anime movie made by Studio Ghibli and directed by Hiroyuki Morita.

The Cat Returns is a film for all ages. Although the tematic might fit as a glove to the children, featuring a fantasy kingdom of cute walking and talking cats, the sheer magic of the scenes will embrace the hearts of viewers of all ages.

As always I don't want to put spoilers in this review, so I'll just say that a teenage girl named Haru, that saves a cat from being runover by a truck gets more reward than she wished for. Her only help will be a brilliant anime character, Baron Humbet von Gikkingen, a real gentlecat; Buta, hehemm, Muta I mean ^_^', a oversized feline who's always complaining and Toto [no it's not a dog from Kansas... and it isn't a cat either O.O]

As expected from Studio Ghibli, you'll notice after you watch The Cat Returns that it's animation is excelent and soundtrack is above average.

Hope you like The Cat Returns! Meoww!

The videos posted on this page concerning the anime show were not uploaded by me on the video servers. They have lower quality than the originals and it's main purpose is for the viewer to have contact with a work not seen previously.

If you liked what you saw PLEASE BUY the original product in the links of Amazon I provided or in another official retailer.

Plot of THE CAT RETURNS!

The story follows a girl called Haru, a quiet, shy and unassuming high school student who has a long-suppressed ability to talk to cats. One day she saves a darkly colored,odd-eyed cat from being hit by a truck on a busy road. The cat turns out to be Lune, Prince of the Cat Kingdom. In return, the cats shower her with gifts of catnip and mice — and then she is offered the Prince's hand in marriage. Her mixed reply is taken as a yes.

Immersed in desperation over this unwanted development, Haru hears a kind female voice which tells her to seek out the Cat Bureau. Haru meets Muta, a large white cat the voice told her to seek for directions, who leads her there to meet the Baron, who happens to be a cat figurine given life by the hard work of his artist, and Toto, a stone raven who comes to life much like the Baron. Soon after meeting them, Haru and Muta are taken to the Cat Kingdom by force, leaving Toto and the Baron in the human world only to be followed by them. The Baron and his feathered friend finally find the entrance to the Cat Kingdom on Earth — five lakes forming a cat's paw.

Haru is conducted to a feast at the castle of the Cat Kingdom and she begins to slowly turn into a cat — with tan paws, ears, and whiskers, though still mainly human — so that she will make a suitable bride for the Prince. At the feast, the Baron (in disguise) dances with Haru as part of the entertainment, and reveals to her that the more she loses herself in the kingdom, the more cat like she will become, and that she has to discover her true self; before being discovered and fighting off the guards so that he may rescue her. They are helped by Yuki, a white female cat who works as a servant in the palace and who had tried to warn Haru to leave the Cat Kingdom before she was taken to the castle. Yuki shows them an escape leading to a tunnel.

Haru, the Baron, and Muta's escape leads them through a maze to a tower, which contains a portal back into Haru's world. The King goes through a series of efforts to keep them in the Cat Kingdom long enough for Haru to remain trapped in the form of a cat so that he can still have her as his daughter-in-law, going so far as to actually collapsing the tower.

Lune and his guards return to the Cat Kingdom to reveal that the King was not acting on his behalf and he has no desire to marry Haru; he has instead planned on proposing to Yuki. Also, Muta is revealed to be a notorious criminal in the Kingdom (having devoured a whole lake of fish in one session), and Yuki as being the strange voice who'd advised Haru to go to the Cat Bureau. In her childhood Haru had saved Yuki from starvation by giving her the fish cookies she was eating, and Yuki has now repaid her kindness.

Eventually, Haru, Muta and the Baron escape the Cat Realm, with the aid of Prince Lune and Toto, and Haru discovers her true self and tells the Baron how she has come to feel about him. He tells her he admires her sincerity but it is left unclear whether he returns her affections. Haru returns to the human world with more confidence in herself; upon learning that her former flame has broken up with his girlfriend, she simply replies, "It doesn't matter anymore".

_{In wikipedia}